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Poll: What was your first translation project about? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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564354352 (X) 
Denmark
Local time: 08:11
Danish to English
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| Luggage handling systems for airports | Feb 10, 2016 |
Presuming the question refers to paid projects...
My first job after graduation was as a technical translator in the documentation department of a company that manufactures machinery for luggage and materials handling. I knew nothing about the subject but worked with engineers who knew everything about the products and were good at explaining even the tiniest details. A perfect combination for a newbie translator...
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I don't remember what my very first translation in professional life was, probably something to do with printers or cars.
But my first one as a freelancer was a job offer. It was very short and easy, but I got it on the very first day I went freelance, so you can imagine how happy I was. 
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| It's coming back to me | Feb 10, 2016 |
I voted that I don't remember, as it more than 50 years ago. But yes, I was a bilingual secretary and my boss used to ask me to translate annual reports. It wasn't in my job description. My first paid translation was a book-length report (about 300 pages) on socioeconomic development in Latin America.
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 08:11
French to English
a report on TV channels in Abu Dhabi!
I think I did a very bad job, but they were happy.
I then went on to luxury yachts and a book on the history of Africa, and polished up my act considerably once I was hired as an in-house translator in an upmarket agency where my work was proofread beyond perfection by the ultimate perfectionist
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| Tourist information | Feb 10, 2016 |
I was teaching English at a language school in northern Italy, and their regular translator was unavailable for a translation of tourist information about a variety of Italian regions, to be used by a hotel chain.
The school director assigned me the project and had me review a draft together with the experienced translator, who as I recall gave me some valuable tips.
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Simon Klys
Germany
Local time: 08:11
Norwegian to English
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| Deportation documents | Feb 10, 2016 |
Documents explaining to a Pakistani gentleman that he was to be deported
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 08:11
Member (2009)
English to German
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Translation of an artist's website.
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My very first job as a translator was a RU>IT translation of a specification and some drawings of a cable railway for transporting goods in Uzbekistan. I had graduated only a month before it, so it was great!
Unfortunately, it took me over two months to get paid.... but well begun is half done, right? lol
[Edited at 2016-02-10 13:51 GMT]
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Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 02:11
German to English
| When I was an undergraduate in 1969 ... | Feb 10, 2016 |
I responded to an ad by a professor looking for someone to translate an article on the flora and fauna in the Lake Titicaca basin. The following year I did more translations – also on topics I knew nothing about. Shockingly, there were no complaints!
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Kimrey Batts
United States
Local time: 02:11
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
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| USAID Reports | Feb 10, 2016 |
...while working as Projects Coordinator at a small NGO (not part of the job description, of course, but I quickly found that I enjoyed it). My first freelance job was a 100-page economic report for the Central Bank of Ecuador. I'm fairly sure I did I terrible job looking back on it, but it (the payment in particular) gave me the motivation to continue working on my translation skills.
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Samantha Payn
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:11
Member (2008)
Russian to English
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And the rest, as they say, is history ....
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EvaVer (X)
Local time: 08:11
Czech to French
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| Environnement | Feb 10, 2016 |
And it was from recordings (on tape at the time). Soundtrack of films about environment for a festtival. I still remember the very first sentence I translated professionally - it was a Bulgarian film for children, about being nice to animals: "Of what is there the most in a zoo? Animals - and children."
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A small book on Christian spirituality from English to Czech and it was later published by a renowned publisher in my country. I remember it very well because I typed it on a typewriter - it was over 20 years ago!
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It was the dialogue for a film about springs (the suspension type IIRC).
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Sanmar
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:11
Dutch to English
| Anti fuel theft device | Feb 10, 2016 |
This was about 25 years ago. The job consisted of about 400 words but I remember it took me at least a day before I decided I was happy with it! Additionally, I had it checked by a relative in the Netherlands.
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